February 2, Pozirk. Every step by Alaksandar Łukašenka’s regime “under the guise of integration” snatches “a piece of independence” from Belarus, said Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja.
She accused the authorities of attempts to rewrite Belarusian history in her comment on intentions by Minsk and Moscow to draw up joint history textbooks for schools and universities.
“The regime has crossed out memorable dates from textbooks and ‘canceled’ national heroes,” her Telegram channel quoted her as saying. “It aims to control the future by seeking to control the past, like any dictatorship.”
The politician drew parallels between Belarus and the Soviet Union, which banned books, distorted historical facts and persecuted opponents. Yet even in such conditions, people found ways to preserve history by learning and sharing the truth, Cichanoŭskaja stressed.
Everyone should take responsibility for what children actually learn, as the government is trying to “impose a nonexistent history,” she added. “Joint textbooks with Russia are not necessary to tell them the truth.”
On February 1, Russian Ambassador Boris Gryzlov announced that Minsk and Moscow agreed to write joint history textbooks for schools and universities.
His statement came days after the Russian and Belarusian history policy agencies policy signed a memorandum of understanding.
